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FINALLY

By Brett Schaffran

At 34 I spoke my first word. I am a speller, and my name is Brett Schaffran. All my life there was the desire to speak: but my mouth doesn’t listen to my brain. For a long time I believed I might one day be able to, but when I realized that would never happen, I despaired. Almost all of us are seen by the world as incapable. But given the right supports, we are very capable indeed.

My life has changed so much in the past year. Feelings of joy are now the norm for me, rather than the exception. My dream of talking has come true…and I want to finally be heard.

7/29/2024 8 Comments

Finally

I am currently the oldest student at M2H. At the time of writing this I am 35, and didn’t start to talk until I was 34. I spent eternity, it felt like, in silence. Knowing I would never be talking was an agony no one can understand unless they were also nonspeaking. I lived in terror and loneliness. Would I die without saying a word? Would no one ever know that I was trapped in this body? Please understand that my parents are the most amazing people on earth and created program after program for the person they believed me to be.

For all my life doing and thinking at the same time was impossible. But then along came Judy, and everything changed. Knowing I can talk now means that the sun finally rises each day. Finally my parents are meeting me. Finally I can become someone real.